Updates needed terribly

So busy. No time to update lately. But that doesn't mean I haven't been cranking out items on my list! The brief version, with more details to follow:

DONE:

#8 - Read another book that was totally out of the range of books I would normally go for - actually, started reading the whole series, but that only counts as 1 for me (even though I am on book #3 in the series)
#16 - I went to see an opera! I saw Seance on a Wet Afternoon at NYC Opera. It was FANTASTIC. Originally, I put "the Met" in the list, but it was because I sort of forgot NYC Opera existed and just wanted to clarify that I meant a REAL opera... not the "Phantom of the.." type. :)
#30 - I took myself on a date by myself. It was the day I saw the opera! I dressed up, got my ticket to the show, took myself out to a really nice dinner, ordered wine, saw the opera, and then treated myself to a cab ride home. No kissing myself after the date was done, though. I am no hussy, and I have 2 more solo dates to go before I can check this off.
#83 - I went to a spa when I was hosting a girl's weekend, reuniting friends from high school, college, and former workplaces. (Wait, does this count for #5??) Melissa and I went to the spa and ... it was an experience. We've had lots of first-time adventures together, some of which are either silly or painful - first time dying our hair, getting belly buttons pierced, and now this. Let's just say it fell into the painful category, but I get to check off #83!


WORKIN' ON IT

#3 - I am signed up the Warrior Dash in August with my older brother Michael. We entered the same heat so that we will be able to run together. I will keep up with him for as long as I can, but I just hope he greets me at the finish line with a beer when I finally make it there. :)
#7 - Trying desperately to plan a trip to see Jodi and Oscar in Barcelona. Let's keep our fingers crossed for early spring!
#14 - I picked up a sketchbook and some watercolors recently! Nothing I am happy with yet, or that is even finished, but it is the first time my art supplies have come out from under the bed in about 4 years.
#19 - Saw 2 more Broadway shows! Just adding to the count!
#53 - The flower pots I planted outside my window are starting to sprout! I can't wait for the blooms to start to make an appearance. But this one won't be checked off until the end of the season if I can keep them alive that long.
#55 - I cooked for an entire passover seder! None of the cooking was terribly difficult as I had feared, but I appreciated the process, and love that everything represents something. A fact I know because of...
#67! Hosting passover as a shiksa with an incomplete haggadah meant a little extra studying for me. But I even did the opening prayer for the candle lighting in Hebrew! Broken Hebrew, but I am an Irish Catholic girl, what do you want? And I think I did a decent job explaining the meal, the stories, and as many of the traditions as I could to a passover-first-timer. You're all invited next year!


More updates and photos and fleshed out accountings of all these actions to follow. It's just been nagging me that I have not had time to update, so I wanted to at least write down a list!

Totally true, I swear.

Ladies and gentlemen, I've done the impossible. Ok, not impossible, but the "not likely" for me.

I have worked out for the past two days. In a row.


I am a warrior.

Sloth Battle 2011

Still battling the dreaded sloth monster, though it seems to be getting harder and harder to maintain my energy for this type of warfare when real life is always getting in the way. But I battle on.

In the battle of Sloth vs. Maureen, Sloth: 1, Maureen: 6

Maureen's wins

• I launched a full scale battle against pink eye. It lasted for TEN DAYS, but ultimately, I came out the victor. (This one doesn't really count, I just thought I should update).
• I hung shelves in the apartment. Nice way to display extra trinkets and things that seem to be EVERYWHERE.
• I filled every picture frame in the house, which included ordering prints. Then RE-ordering prints when the sizes weren't right, AND doing some matting. Now I don't feel like such a jerk for a) having empty picture frames on display, and b) not having any wedding pictures in the apartment nine months after the wedding.
• I ordered extra photos as gifts for a few folks and sent them out. Just cause.
• I added supports to the sides of my book shelves so I could cram more books in there. And then rearranged it slightly to change up the space in the living room. Andy isn't crazy about the new look, so I might change it back, but at least I did it in the first place!
• I finally got around to installing a handle on the cabinet below the sink in my kitchen.
• I installed a flower pot outside my kitchen window. We'll see how my little plants do, but I am currently waiting to see sprouts from two different pots of beautiful flowers, and a pot of sweet basil that I can hopefully use for cooking. (And if I am successful, check off #53 on my list!)
  

Sloth wins:

• Had a hard time getting my butt in gear to go to the gym recently. After a particularly shameful moment of sloth this weekend, where I couldn't pull myself together to go to the gym, I tried to redeem myself by going for a 4 mile walk in the park with Andy, but that's not really the point of this goal.

Sloth-Maureen tie

• I reached out to several organization that look for volunteers to do their charity work. Definitely a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, the only ones I actually heard back from didn't need help in some of the locations that they has listed, and needed folks for either middle-of-the-day shifts, or at locations that would be next to impossible for me to get to. Frustrating. Who would think volunteering would be so hard?
  

Just got keep on keepin' on. And doing it without coffee. Today marks 30 days since my last cup of coffee. Originally, my goal was just not to BUY any, but coffee I made for myself at work or at home would be ok, but that didn't seem like enough of a challenge, so I went cold turkey to hit goal #58. That's all there is to it!

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

For my more delicate readers, I warn you to skip down a few paragraphs, because I am about to use bad language to talk about how today was shitty. Super shitty. But shit storms sometimes hit, and you just have to keep right on going. As Dori said in Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming".

My shit storm day started when I woke up for the second day in a row feeling miserable. For some reason, my limbs have felt very heavy for the past couple of days, no clue why. I went to work (cause yay, it's Monday...shitty), and my heavy limbs caused my to fall on the subway stairs. I am totally fine. Just can't decide if I am more upset about the ache in my hand where I caught myself, the embarrassment of falling in front of about 100 people during rush hour (btw, number of people who stopped or offered to help=0. Nice. ), or if I was most upset knowing that my bare hands had touched NYC subway stairs. I think it is the latter. My subway rides in the morning are normally relaxing and speedy. Today, however, my iPod stopped playing music mid-song, despite being fully charged and operational in every way except for making sound. Terrific! At least I had my Kindle.... which was apparently dead for no reason whatsoever.... again.

At least I had a nice full day of work to look forward to. Sigh. Insert unexpected meetings that didn't quite go so well in the middle of my day? Yes please! I <3 shit storm Mondays.

But you can't let this crap drag you down. So I decided to check a few things off my 101 list. My dear lady friend sent me an email a few days ago with additional ways to be more green (#44). I checked it out and totally got inspired by a few ideas, including visiting a website to opt out of all that junk mail telling me I am pre-approved for a credit card every day. Awesome! Opted out of my current name, maiden name, and my husband's name (just to cover all the bases). I can't wait to see less junk in my mailbox and save a few trees.

My lovely husband also suggested that we treat ourselves to a show, cause he knows that always perks me up (and is #19 on my list). Something went right with my day! It turns out that I was able to get mega-discounted tickets to see a show that Andy actually wanted to see also! So with that, I am off to see Motherf*#%er with the Hat starring Chris Rock. (And yes, that is the actual name of the show....not just more of my bad-day profanity).

Looking forward to continuing to dive into my goals, even during bad days, and really celebrate my successes during good ones. And with that, I'm off to dinner and a show!

EYE hate PINK

My battle on SLOTH has taken a hit this week, ironically, because I am starting to look like an actual sloth.

I woke up on Saturday morning to find my left eye very, very red and pretty painful. I whined about it on the couch for a while until I caught myself in a mirror when I flicked on the light and noticed that the red eye had a huge, dilated pupil that wasn't moving in the light. Trust me, it was a sexy look. . . red eyes with mismatched pupils. I decided to call the doctor -- who wasn't in because it was Saturday. Next step, the hospital that is 10 blocks from my apartment.

Five hours in the "eye chair" in the ER, and I was diagnosed with conjunctivitis... pink eye for those of you who remember when all your friends had it in 3rd grade. How I got it, I have no clue. But the doctor sent me on my way with a prescription for antibiotic eye drops, and the reassurance that I didn't have to avoid people like kids do when they get pink eye. Always nice to hear that you're not going to infect everyone you meet. But he did recommend that I follow up with the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary on Monday, since my symptoms were a little funky, and he wanted to make sure it wasn't something else.

Great! Eye drops in my burning eyes, and off to brunch with friends on Sunday! More redness and burning at night, and a little pink hue to my RIGHT eye, as well as the left. . . I decided to make the infirmary my first stop in the morning on my way in to work.

I got right in, since they said I was an emergency case, and I got to fast forward though registration and the general assessment nurse, past the folks with appointments, and wait with the other emergency patients. . . for six hours. SIX HOURS in the waiting room. As an "emergency" patient. And the end result? Confirmed conjunctivitis in BOTH eyes, after they dilated my pupils to the point that you couldn't tell that my eyes were blue and shined a light with the power of the sun directly in my retina. Thanks, doc! His feedback? STOP taking the antibiotic eye drops, and stay away from the entire human race for 10 days. WHAT? Does that even make sense? If I am that contagious, why would I stop taking antibiotics?

Needless to say, I did not make it into the office on Monday. So I worked from home for three days straight. I kept doing the antibiotic eye drops (because how much harm could it really do to continue actually TREATING my symptoms?). After almost a week, I have now had some great work-from-home days, some moments of extreme boredom (although I did complete a 1,000 piece puzzle in about 24 hours), and continuously irritated eyes. I couldn't go to the gym, cause I can't be putting my hands all over equipment that other people use. (Like I needed another excuse to avoid the gym). I couldn't do much cooking. I couldn't go out and run errands that would put me around innocent, healthy-eyed victims. I have basically been useless all week. Terrible.

I split the difference between the doctors' advice about how much I can be around others, and decided to head back to work to wrap up my week (and because there are a few things that I really needed to be in the office to take care of this week).

Now I am back at work, but trying to be very aware of not touching my eyes at all, not touching anyone in the office, and emptying a bottle of antibacterial junk on my hands whenever I touch anything. I am so glad the weekend is coming so I can spend time at home again. Safe within the walls of my little petri dish apartment. Assuming I am not contagious (Andy is still doing fine), but not feeling much better either (something please just rip my eyes out!).

And most importantly, not getting much of anything accomplished.

::sigh::